A small-time 30 year old boxer in Philadelphia is given
a once in a lifetime shot at the heavyweight championship title, when
he is picked to fight the current champion, Apollo Creed in a bicentennial
publicity stunt, when the real challenger for the heavyweight title
had to bow out because of injuries.

Won the Oscars for Best Picture and for Best Director.
Also Oscar-nominated for Conti's song "Gonna Fly Now," for Best Actress,
for 2 Best Supporting Actor nominations, for Best Actor and for Best
original screenplay.

Rocky Balboa says to Adrian: "I can't beat him. But
that don't bother me. The only thing I want to do is to go the distance,
that's all. Because if that bell rings and I'm still standing, then
I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I wasn't just
another bum from the neighborhood."

This story starts out by introducing the principal character,
Rocky Balboa, "The Italian Stallion" (Sly Stallone), who lives in Philadelphia,
and has been a boxer for 15 of his 30 years. The scene opens showing
us the local Fight Club, with Rocky in the ring with an opponent, in
a mediocre fight. Though he finally wins the match, and will receive
40 + dollars, a lady in the audience calls him a bum, which bothers
him.

He started to box at the age of 15, on the advice
from his Dad, who told him that since he didn't have much of
a brain, he had better start using his body. 64 fights later,
he had given up the idea of moving up to the professional level,
and was boxing on a part time basis, much to the disapproval
of his ex-coach Mickey (Burgess Meredith), who runs a boxing
gym for those boxers trying to make it in the sport. Mickey
is terribly disappointed and frustrated with Rocky, because
Rocky had the skill to make it professionally in the big time
boxing scene, but chose not to go all the way, maybe because
of self-doubt, and lack of dedication.

Instead, to make ends meet, Rocky works during
the day as a collections man for the local loan shark, Gazzo
(Joe Spinell), a job that he really doesn't like, as Rocky is
a decent, kind-hearted man, slow to anger and willing to give
others a chance. Several scenes make his character plain to
the audience. One morning on money collecting errand, Rocky
catches a terrified man who owes 200 dollars to Gazzo. The way
he handled the situation brings out his character traits. The
man gives Rocky a partial payment, and gets some advice and
counciling in return from Rocky. Rocky lets him go without breaking
his thumbs as ordered, because the man offered him his jacket
as well, though Rocky doesn't take it. Plus, if he had broken
thumbs, the man couldn't work to earn the rest of the money
owed. Gazzo frowns on such thinking, as it makes him look like
a guy who won't come through on his threats, lessening his tough
reputation.

However, two people enter Rocky's life, that
change the course of his destiny, Adrian (Talia Shire) and Apollo
Creed (Carl Weathers), the current Heavy-weight Boxing Champion.
Adrian becomes a source of supportive love and encouragement
which changes Rocky's mindset about himself, and Apollo Creed
gives him an opportunity of a lifetime, which causes Rocky to
make his boxing career once again his main focus. The screenplay
follows these two storylines; Rocky's boxing troubles & challenges
and his courting of Adrian, skillfully intertwining the two
as the story develops.

In his personal life, he had taken a strong
liking to Adrian (Talia Shire), the painfully shy sister of
his friend Paulie (Burt Young). On his way to his collections
day job, he always stops by to see Adrian who works at the local
pet shop, armed with his best joke. On his way home, he does
the same. As she is too shy to answer him, her brother Paulie
helps their relationship along by asking Rocky to come over
on Thanksgiving, without telling her. Rocky and Adrian spend
the evening together and find that they fill each other's gaps,
and their relationship begins to bloom, as they find love and
support in each other, a feeling and reality that both really
need, which transforms them both into stronger, confident people,
happier with themselves, and empowered to take on the challenges
in their lives.

Rocky's life is also changed forever when Apollo
Creed, sends a representative to Mickey's training gym and leaves
a calling card for Rocky. After an unpleasant exchange with
the very blunt, rough-edged Mickey, who berates Rocky for his
current choices, Rocky reports to the office of Apollo's coordinator,
Jergens (Thayer David) thinking that they want him to be a sparring
partner for Apollo. After assuring Jergens that he would not
take any cheap shots at the champ, and would be a good sparring
partner, Jergens clears up the misunderstanding.

Much to his surprise, he finds out that he was
personally picked by Heavy -Weight Boxing Champion, Apollo Creed
(Carl Weathers), "The Master of Disaster," to be Apollo's opponent
in a bicentennial fight scheduled to take place on New Years
Day in Philadelphia. While at first Rocky declines the chance
to fight Apollo, Jergens talks him into it.

Before Rocky knows it, Mickey is at his door,
wanting to coach and train him. After Rocky blows off some steam
through a closed door, about how Mickey has treated him in the
past, he winds up running after the dejected Mickey outside
on the sidewalk, hugs him, and shakes hands with him, asking
him to be his trainer. This scene is presented to the audience
with a wide camera shot, from a down the street point of view
showing this reconciliation, using body language alone to tell
the story.

How he trains for his big fight and the climatic
boxing match itself are highly entertaining and take the audience
into the world of boxing, gives some insight into the determination
and heart of a man who also is fighting for self-respect.

This film is a classic because of its terrific
screenplay & gifted direction, and inspired performances from
the cast, which earned 4 Oscar nominations. It wonderfully blends
humor, drama, poignant moments with montage training sessions
and terrific boxing action scenes. It's various elements come
together to create this uplifting, inspiring, low budget film,
which showcases the "triumph of the human spirit." It is not
surprising that "Rocky" received the Oscar for Best Picture.

"Rocky" was superbly directed by the talented
John G. Avildsen, who won the Oscar for Best Director, which
he richly deserved. He truly got the best performances out of
his talented cast, and made the screenplay work in this truly
entertaining film telling the story about how an underdog, supported
by love and encouragement from his coach and girl friend, rises
to meet the biggest challenge in his boxing career, on an inner
strength he didn't know that he had within himself.

Sylvester Stallone wrote this wonderful Oscar
nominated screenplay, that was "all about: pride, reputation,
and not being another bum in the neighborhood." He wrote the
screenplay and sold it for a small amount of cash, and a share
of the profits, with the understanding that he would play the
main character Rocky himself, hoping to give his acting career
a boost. His great success with this film not only gave his
acting career a shot in the arm, but also gave him financial
backers for his future screenplays, such as "Fist," "Rambo:
First Blood," Rambo: First Blood 2 & 3, Rocky series 2,3, 4,
&5, and "Cliffhanger."

Sylvester Stallone earned a Best Actor nomination
for his convincing performance of Rocky Balboa, a man struggling
with the feeling of being a nobody, being unsuccessful in life.
He portrays Rocky's transformation with a wide range of emotions,
as he grows while living through all his experiences. He does
an excellent job in his "physical acting" sequences of scenes,
which adds great credibility to the action element of the screenplay.

Talia Shear earned a Best Actress nomination
for her portrayal of the shy, withdrawn Adrian, who goes through
a blooming transformation throughout the film because of her
relationship with Rocky. She finds the strength to stand up
for the first time to confront her drunken brother, who had
always put her down verbally.

Burt Young earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination
for his portrayal of Paulie, Adrian's brother, who is a very
unhappy man, stuck in a job at a meat packing plant that he
hates, worried about his shy sister, and has a big problem with
alcohol. Despite his faults, he and Rocky are good friends,
and he does get Rocky and Adrian together, though he has mixed
feelings about their relationship.

Burgess Meredith also earned a much deserved
Best Supporting Actor nomination as Rocky's gravel-voiced, trainer
coach, Mickey, with no social graces, being a rather blunt,
plain-talking man who had always longed to train a talented
contender to go for the big prize.

A powerful sequence of scenes between Mickey
and Rocky is when Mickey has to swallow his hat and go to visit
Rocky to offer his training services, which is described in
detail in the story description paragraphs above.

Rocky has been rated PG. While there is only
a little kissing and perhaps mildly implied hanky panky off-screen
between Adrian and Rocky, the climatic boxing scenes are pretty
realistic and seem very real, an accurate portrayal of what
the boxing ring is like. Sensitive children may be upset. Basically
this is a great family movie because of the values it stresses
about what is needed to reach high goals, and the tenacity of
the human spirit. Also, the basic truths that words can hurt
people, and love can help in healing old wounds are important
lessons to learn.